And Hell Will Follow Me
by Flaky Porcupine
Summary: Lonliness and Tyrin return in this blood-curdling sequel to "I Won't Leave You" offering more chapters, more characters and more blood and sorrow!
1. Chapter 1: No Matter the Cost

_I'm not a curse._

The night was warm, with a small breeze to keep the humidity down snugly. The moon was shining brightly above a sea of stars and consolations woven across the sky like a great tapestry. So beautiful that it hurts. It was a cozy summer evening. All of the trainers and Pokémon across the many towns would be asleep at this hour, except for one lone figure walking through the grass around at midnight. It was none other than Tyrin the sylveon.

He was alone, in more ways in the word than one. He remembered how they ran into this place at the other's direction and guidance. He never knew why it had to be here, or why the things that happened afterwards had followed. "One year," the sylveon mused as he looked around to the stones of the cemetery, "An entire year since the incident and nothing, nothing to help me find out what happened. Maybe I should just stop, nothing is going to bring him back." The Pokémon started to trot to his destination, his ribbons dragging on the ground as he walked. He was told of how happy and cheerful sylveons were supposed to be, but others never understood what he had gone through exactly one year ago. They would not be able to sleep at night if they knew what he went through. Of how his friend was taken away from him, tortured right before his eyes.

His footsteps slowed as he approached the smallest grave of Pallet Town before grinding to a halt altogether. With the original rose long dead and Arceus knows where, he pulls out a new one would and simply drops it on the stone cover that contained his friend, or what remained of him. He couldn't find the strength to look at the grave itself, the monument bearing all of his unanswered questions and his own depression. The tombstone was bearing the name of his best friend, an unusual yet fitting name, a rather crude irony under these circumstances.

Loneliness.

The sylveon began to tear up at that point, feeling that no matter how hard he tried to find even a single hint as to why they were spilt apart that he would never understand, none. He felt as if he had failed his friend.

"I-I'm sorry Lonely...I couldn't find anything..." he sighs with heaving melancholy in front of the stone, sobbing softly to himself.

In front of him was the stone lid that his friend was buried under, assuming that whatever lies inside of it is certainly dead and decaying, perhaps nothing but a mere pile of flesh and bone for all Tyrin knew. Whatever it looked like, it certainly had no more warmth to provide him with, the eevee long since having left nothing of himself behind.

The sylveon finally looks at the cover as he thought about it and froze when he saw the lid open itself up on its own. There was a pile of very small bones inside before it formed. Tyrin can remember it quite clearly. A hole, rift of time. A voracious portal of sorts that lead into some distant void that had took his friend, his little prince away from him.

No no no no. Tyrin screamed commands in his head in hopes that his body would follow his thoughts, but could only manage to take a small step back before the rift sucks him inside its dark depths. On the tombstone, the name now reads Lonliness, the letter e having been scratched out once more.

It took several minutes to adjust to the darkness of this world beyond, a valley of shadows. It was very quiet outside of faint traces of hushed whispering somewhere not too far away. Tyrin couldn't make any words out, but swore he heard his own name being mentioned, maybe even Lonliness as well. Speaking of which, he wonders where his little friend was. Shouldn't he be here? He then considers what he just thought.

"Where am I?"

He wasn't sure whether this is Hell or some twisted Heaven. It honestly doesn't look like either of those, too dark and nondescript to be any sort of Biblical location. Was he in limbo? Is this purgatory? He looks around, wondering who or what will be judged.

As if answering his question, his eyes adjust and make out something directly in front of him. It was a small shape, brown with a cream white neck-pelt. It was looking down, its head cast towards the ground. It looked pathetic, sobbing even.

Tyrin was in utter joy at the sight. "Lonliness!" he sang the name happily, but the eevee didn't seem to notice. He notices that his friend's ears perk up but otherwise the eevee lies still. Not a single word comes out of his mouth. Tyrin tries to walk towards him, but found that he couldn't move beyond this spot.

"Ah, ah, ah...wouldn't want to interrupt his punishment now, would we?" the voice coldly clicked its tongue.

Tyrin froze there as the blood-chilling voice comes from the apparent nowhere, fear taking a hold of him once more. He was able to squeak out a response, "W-who are you…?"

A different voice comes to answer his question, a female whisper. "We are the ones who warned you about the eevee, we tried to keep you away from him. He is nothing but a curse brought to us all. We are the ones who suffer from his curse, his very existence...and now we receive the full end of it." The source of these words reveal themselves to the sylveon on opposite sides of the eevee. Tyrin recognizes these… whatever they were exactly, as the ghastly figures at the pond; pure white, spectral skin with glaring red eyes and arms.

"Get away from him," the sylveon growls before the ghosts take note of his attention and reach out the grab him. As Tyrin struggled against their inhuman grip, the spirits cock their heads towards him with morbid interest.

"Such resolve... tell us, why do you see a blessing and not a curse?" the male voice asked rather casually with confused curiosity.

Fear and confusion were still present in his tone, but Tyrin managed to find the strength to reply to the question. "He was an innocent little child the day I found him, hating himself and wanting nothing more than to die a painful death. Once I showed him what he always needed, he began to see happiness for for first time in years; he is the most amazing Pokémon I have ever met." He pauses before anger filled him, "And you made him hate life. You tell me, who is the real curse?"Lonliness raises his head up to briefly face the sylveon before looking away again. Not a word. The ghost, the female one to be exact, answered for him.

"He was left on his own to die for reasons beyond your compresnsion."He caused the death of an equally innocent child himself, one of his own trainer's Pokémon, but he didn't stop there. No, not even after we told his owner to leave him. He went on and cursed the very soil he walks upon. He only creates ruin and leaves everybody he interacts with into nothing but tortured souls in an everlasting limbo." She pauses, "Why should he have special privilege, Tyrin, above all else?"

"You don't understand, he is a child! Nothing more than an innocent soul wishing for nothing more than to be loved. So an accident happened, how is that grounds to condemn a child to desecrate earth and destroy those who come close to him?"

"Don't you see what he's done? He almost took YOUR own life before we rid him of his pathetic existence, even if he didn't mean to. We tried to draw you away from him, but you only persisted in never wanting him to leave you for your own selfish reasons until we had to dispose of him ourselves. Why would you want him back exactly?" the ghost spoke onto him.

The sylveon fell silent on that note. Everybody in the dark bowels of the grave thought that he had perhaps given in at this point. He closes his eyes in thought before opening them again and flashing a smile, sounding confident. "Because I love him, and I would be willing to give up anything to have him back, even if that means I must give up my own life for him. Everyone deserves love, no matter what they do and I plan to give him just that and no curse is going to stop me."

Lonliness finally looks back up to Tyrin again and lets out a small and hopeful, the ghosts rolling their eyes as they were less than impressed. The boy's smile faded slowly to a frown again as they spoke up again. "We want to inherit your identity. We want you to acquire your morality as a trade in you having your fleshy pile of filth here back. Your soul will finally free our own, but you will have to sacrifice all of your joy and rationality if it means that this curse will forever be in your hands. If you can't see why he needs to stay dead, then you will experience it firsthand."

Tyrin's smile slowly faded as he looked at the eevee, now starting to consider his options rationally. "I-I won't be me anymore? What will happen?"

The ghost came closer to him, "You will become the curse, you will want nothing more than a shadow of what you once were and," pointing to Lonliness, "in return he is free."

Realizing that the boy's life rests upon his hands, the blue orbs of the sylveon's eyes start to dart between the three figures of this void as doubt starts to grow inside of him. Lose who he was? Sacrifice all of his joy? Was it...worth it? The most logical answer was to leave the boy here for him to rot, alone. Any suspensions and doubt in his mind faded as he looks at the sad eevee youth again, it was at that moment when Tyrin decided that he has lived a fine life up to this point, and if it meant that he would spend more time and save the boy's life, it was well worth his own life for someone who needed it more. For him to start anew and push aside what he had done, whatever it were, whatever the curse was. With his eyes watering, the sylveon finally answered.

"Deal."

His choice was followed by an embrace soon after, the eevee looking up at the sylveon before both of their visions fade to the black confines of a lid that once contained the dead body of a poor, misunderstood child. The gravestone had vanished entirely, but the new rose remained there as a mark of its memory. Lonliness soon felt lighter, as if a heavy burden was finally lifting off of his shoulders. When he was able to move, he first made sure he was intact, blinking his right eye a few times and feeling around his throat with his small paws. He smiles, grateful to be alive. Maybe everything was going to be–

The eevee's thoughts ended there, interrupted by Tyrin's bloodcurdling scream.


	2. Chapter 2: Saw You Drown

I did not know why we were here.

I did not know why we were alone.

But there was the simple and plain fact that we just were.

I had been watching you for a long time. You hardly moved at all, only looking ahead of yourself, out towards the horizon. You were silent. You were degraded, in exile. You couldn't remember when the last time you ate a single thing was. You did not know whether it had been days or for weeks. You could not remember what you had, if anything, you had to eat yesterday or the day before.

At one point, you realized I was there. You turned back to look at me, or I assumed you did. You were faceless, your expression telling me nothing. You gazed into my soul, the neighboring trees on this cold spring day having their branches taken by the wind.

You then turned back, out towards the horizon once more. Towards the dull, empty horizon in this dull, empty forest.

On one hand, I was relieved. Your brown face was alarming and frightening. On the other, I was worried. Your face was confused and innocent. I took a few steps forward. No response from you.

Your ears perk up as I came in closer, and that is when you finally moved.

And then I saw you drown.

Your body sprang forwards into the dark water. Your feet only going deeper inside as

you continued to walk further away from the shore.

The world that you tried to understand and tried to control – you let it go. You let it sink like a rock was soon as your head reached below the water.

For a long time, you wanted nothing more to escape. You have been waiting for the courage for the end to come.

Your mouth opened in a kind of gasp, bubbles coming out of it. The bubbles of what would have been your supple breath. You start to slip downwards… deeper… into the dark abyss. You slid into the depths of eternity.

I couldn't move. My legs were stuck to the ground underneath. I was pinned to the grass, the weight of gravity preventing me from saving you. My own self was saving you. I cannot help you, I cannot understand, not before and not now.

For I no longer knew who I was.

Somewhere, I heard an inhuman laughter, and soon, it was over. Your body was still nowhere to be seen before it started to raise – a drowned vessel. The life was snuffed from your eyes, choked by the water around you.

Suddenly able to move after being trapped by my own sub consciousness, I sprinted towards your body and fished it out. It was cold, wet to the touch. Your black eyes were glazed and dumb; half-open and blind.

I wept for you. For both of us.

As I looked up, I saw others looking onward, towards you, towards us. Their bodies twisted and their eyes a dim red, shining through. They looked identical, yet had unique bodies all the same. They came in many different shapes, sizes and colors. They then started to laugh.

Their laughter only made me hate them even more.

My limbs started to twitch angrily, ready for them to come on me. The rest of the world no longer mattered. I knew they did this to you.

I let my hate grow.

They were staring into me, and I let my hate grow.

They were still laughing, and I let my hate grow.

They were mocking you, and I let my hate grow.

They killed you, and I let my hate grow.

They were now fading, and I let my hate grow.

They were no longer even there, and I let my hate grow.

How I wish I were the iconoclast. I could kill them all, and be at peace with it. Their lives were small and meek. They no longer deserved mercy. I longed to show them my wrath.

I was being drained.

I was being stripped of my being.

I had no thoughts or fear.

For I no longer needed them.

I opened my eyes. They were red and empty-hearted.

All I had left were forlorn memories, and sweeter memories too… of us.

I did not know who I was.

I did not know what anything was.

All I knew was my name.

All I knew was you.

But I had a purpose.

I knew that I had to protect you.

I knew that I am your guardian angel.

I knew that I had power beyond power.

I knew that I must not leave you.

I knew that you were fragile and vulnerable.

I knew that my purpose was to create a world for us.

I knew blood will be shed.

I will create the perfect world for us, I promise, and Hell will follow me.


	3. Chapter 3: Every Rose Has Its Thorn

_Vee…_

The rose is a very powerful flower, a rightful symbol of elegance. The petals cutting into the dark night like a blade, shining through as though a raging fire spreading out in a particular pattern. A garden is a wildfire, flaring and piercing the dark with its brightness. Yet, despite its elegant beauty, the rose can be a cruel and demanding specimen. To touch upon its thorns requires a sacrifice, a sacrifice to be paid in both slight pain and a small shedding of blood. It aims for the weakness of the flesh, to make it bleed.

The horrible night had passed, fading into a new dawn. The slow, morning sun was rising lazily out of the horizon of the tombstones around. It was looking to be a bright and beautiful day, the denizens of Earth were slowly yet surely awakening from their distant slumber to greet the sun and start their individual days, whatever those may be.

The night had faded, broken up by the dawn. The spirits were put to rest, and life has been restored. Lonliness had been reawakened by his own deep slumber inside of Death's arms, but the thorns were no longer rooted in him. They had now seeped into Tyrin's own body, which not felt like it was blazing.

As if he was turned inside out, Tyrin's skin had become a deep shade of red. It was crimson, like muscle. It was a very odd color to look at since it was so much different from his once white fur. The pink bits, on the other hand, had become blue. It was almost like a shiny sylveon would be, except it was a much darker shade. Not to mention that Tyrin was never a shiny to begin with.

Tyrin's screaming came to a sudden halt just as it had started; he started to pant heavily after as the pain started to die down. The burning feeling was replaced with that of a drain. He felt empty; no emotion, and no thoughts. Only one word, his own, had started to echo in his head. Deal… deal… deal… Over and over again.

Sensing something embracing him, Tyrin let out a low and uncharacteristically threatening growl and snarl before he gradually opened his eyes. His once bright and peaceful sky-blue irises were now a deep shade of dimly glowing scarlet. They were ominous and full of hate, much like the color of his eyes under the ghosts' control. The only difference being that he had fully become just that.

Presented before him was a brown ball that slowly started to morph into shape as his new eyes adjusted from his slumber. Before him, the foreign object seemed to grow ears and a tail before he recognized it as his friend. He seemed to be covering his ears, and crying to himself and repeating the words "Ty-Tyrin, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have made you go through that" quietly to himself. The sylveon, through his drainage, felt pity on the eevee.

"L-Lonliness?" he manages to squeak out, his throat aching. Blood began to fall from his eyes instead of tears, pulling the brown body of which he inherited the curse of against his own.

"I'm s-so sorry I couldn't protect you that fateful day, I was weak." The eevee reared his head at that before noticing the hideous changes that his own friend has undergone through just to save him. It was horrifying to him in every possibly way.

Tyrin lifted his head up against the eevee's own and looked down. He takes notice of the fact that his red tears had dripped onto the head now. From somewhere in his mind, he was told that he should be worried about this, but nothing came of it.

"...but now," he said as he continued on with his last thought, "I am strong!" The sylveon slowly smiled, a perfect row of fanged teeth replacing his weaker ones.

The eevee tilted his head in concern, the sticky crimson liquid sticking to the top of his head. "B-but you're..." the eevee retreated and gulps as he gazed into those horrifying teeth, having lost himself in them. "You're..."

Looking down in confusion for why the eevee seemed to be so sad, Tyrin slowly raised a paw to his mouth and gently clasped around it and quickly understood. "I-I scare you, don't I?" he asks.

The eevee hesitated before nodding to the question.

Now growing bewildered, Tyrin gently put Lonliness down and started to walk towards a nearby puddle left over from some recent rainfall. As he inched his way there, plant life quickly started to blacken and die wherever his paws touched down, but he didn't seem to notice. When he does reach it, he helped himself to a long, good look of himself.

In the reflection, he saw his own monstrous appearance, barely recognizing himself. He looked into those sharp teeth. He gazed upon his own ruby-colored eyes, blinking a few times as if expecting any sort of change. He tried his hardest to understand. He wanted to know why his friend seemed to be afraid of him, but he simply could not. He was unmoved by his new self, not feeling any sense of surprise, shock or disgust towards it. In fact, in a way, he actually liked it. He looked a lot stronger now. But if it meant scaring Lonliness…

"D-do you want me to leave?" he asked suddenly. His voice sounded glum, almost dreading the answer.

The sylveon gave a contented smile to the eevee. "Thank you Lonliness, but you may find it more... difficult to be around me," Tyrin warned with renewed melancholy, recalling his end of the deal. "The ghosts said I'm not the same person anymore.

"… An embodiment of that blasted curse!" the sylveon abruptly swatted at the puddle with a loud splat, letting all that anger out that he had been containing and keeping to himself, making the eevee cower at the sudden aggression, an emotion that he had never seen from him yet. It wasn't fair, Tyrin thought, the whole situation was unfair to both of them that he had lost control of himself. It made him feel less tense, at the very least. Almost prideful. Almost.

Both of them dimly note that the puddle had become a dark grey, but given the current situation, neither of them were all that surprised at this transformation.

Looking over his paw in curiosity, Tyrin quickly turned his attention back to Lonliness. "But as long as I have you," he continued his last thought as he wrapped a ribbon around the vee with the same gentleness and care as he had before, bringing the smaller Pokémon closer to him. "I think I can still be myself."

Although he had nearly panicked when he was reached out to, the ribbons were still as soft as Lonliness remembered him, helping him relax and ease right into the hold. "I'll always be with you, Tyrin. No more shall we part." His mind was made up, and his voice reflected that.

More red tears came to Tyrin's eyes as the eevee still accepted him for his new self despite the obvious changes. After a short while, Tyrin let him down. "So, where shall we go next? There is a big world out there and not enough time to see it!" The sylveon was mirthful, and was about to wait for an answer when it lied within his own stomach growling. The fairy looked down at it and smiled brightly. "Guess we should get some food first. I'm starving."

Relieved that his friend was still his same old self and was ready to tackle the world with him at his side, Lonliness agreed that something to have for breakfast would be an ideal start of a new day of their adventures. The sylveon lifted his head and started to sniff the air. Maybe there would be a human encampment somewhere near that they could take food from. The odor that came back to his nose was enough to make his mouth water, Tyrin began lick his own lips. "There is something in the woods, and it smells amazing!"

With that, he started to walk out of the graveyard and into the trees. Following behind him, the eevee lets out a small chuckle. His interest was piqued at how amazing this scent was, and yet he himself could not get a single fragrance of it, most likely a result of having a smaller nose, he figured.

"Any idea of what it is?" he asks.

"I don't know," Tyrin gave another whiff of the cold morning air. "But it's moving." His head tilted towards the direction of the smell to point it out.

Lonliness now felt more intrigued. "Moving?" he asked interestedly.

Slowly moving behind a bush, the waft was finalized. "There," he pointed with his nose behind the bush, moving in a crouching position, stealth on his side. Lonliness heard Tyrin pounce, and a small struggle ensued. Lonliness moved behind the blush to see what the commotion was, and froze.

"Hello there little guy," he heard the sylveon greet the zigzagoon he had pinned under a claw, although it wasn't exactly a friendly salutation. The raccoon was shocked and struggled a bit at first, but then he realized what was exactly what he was jumped by, looking at the odd fairy.

"Uh, hello? What are you doing?" the zigzagoon asked inquiringly. His fearfulness soon being replaced by skepticism. Sylveons were herbivores, after all.

The sylveon was almost disappointed by the reaction; Tyrin gave him an evil smile, not being afraid to show his teeth. "Oh, just catching breakfast is all," he said almost casually before scraping one of his claws on the zigzagoon's face.

"B-breakfast?" the raccoon began to quiver as his face turned a ghastly pale.

Feeling pride in his fear, Tyrin leaned in and whispered a suggestion to the brown ear. "Beg," he commanded, as his fingers found their way to one of the hind legs. Although his brown eyes widened and his breathing picked up, the zigzagoon stayed relatively silent. Tyrin's face slowly started to morph from sly and cunning to a boiling anger as he was being disobeyed.

"I said…" Tyrin started to repeat himself, his pointed digits beginning to seep into the leg until blood started to leak from the pores. "Beg!" he shouted, quickly twisting his claw and causing great pain, bruising on the outside as veins were severed. The zigzagoon had no choice but to scream in pain.

"Tyrin, what are you doing!?"

As he was reveling in the pained screams, and just as he was about to sink his claws deeper, the bawling voice of the beloved eevee made him halt in surprise. He quickly turned back to his friend, his smile wide and maniacal. "Getting food, what does it look like I'm doing?" He slides his claws out as he let body fluid ooze out of the open gore, bringing the claws up to his muzzle to try for a taste and lets out a small gasp. "Delicious."

"Y-you're a monster!" The zigzagoon quickly looked around for any help or support before his brown eyes locked with the eevee's own after he spoke. There was a glint of extreme pain and of deep fear in his stare. "P-please help me! I'm begging you!" his voice shaky and desperate.

The eevee would have helped him too, but he was still recovering from that sinister grin the sylveon gave him as he assured that he was "only getting food". Food? But this was another Pokémon! While he was certain that Tyrin would never lay his paws – or ribbons – on him, everything that he had known about his best friend was gone, lost inside of that deranged mask that resembled nothing like the sylveon he had used to have known.

A few seconds later, he brought his glance back towards the begging Pokémon's face. Tears began to roll down his cheeks as it beseeched and pleaded for his mercy. Lonliness remained silent, staring at the brown face before mouthing that he was sorry, looking away and covering his ears to try to deafen the noises that would come after.

He blamed only himself for his own cowardice, and his inability to take action. It had, once again, cost him another innocent life.

Hearing no response from his friend, Tyrin turned back towards the zigzagoon with a wicked facial expression. Well my little morsel, I can tell you I have never had zigzagoon before...but if you are anything like chicken..." a ribbon found itself at the clawed hind leg again. "I'd like to start on the drums!"

Taking a strong hold of it, the ribbon started to slowly twist the leg, the bone in its socket starting to turn towards an uncomfortable angle along with it. Awkwardness soon gave birth to utter terror as the leg started to bend in odd directions, the zigzagoon starting to writhe and scream about in renewed vigor as he heard a loud and painful snap inside, weeping and whimpering afterwards in agony.

"Keep that up and this might just go a little slower," Tyrin smiled with malicious intent.

He went down to the leg, knowing that the zigzagoon would be in too much pain to try and run now. He lapped over the wound he inflicted earlier, hungrily drinking any blood that had come out before biting into the leg, his teeth guiding flawlessly into the meat and took out a huge chunk of the thigh. The zigzagoon continued his screams while his body was violently shaking over the loss of its flesh.

Tyrin chewed at the mixture of fur, skin, and meat, sighing in sheer bliss at the flavors of it all mixed together. He swallowed, "Oh my Arceus, that was the most amazing thing I have tasted! This is going to be..."

His ears perked and he looked around, there was another Pokémon nearby. It was big. It was perhaps too big, and Tyrin realized that this was going to have to be a fight or flight situation.

The zigzagoon heard it too, "PLEASE SOMEO-" Tyrin quickly wrapped his two two ribbons around the Pokémon's throat and squeezed tightly, starting to choke the poor creature. The raccoon struggled against it, his face turning blue from the lack of air. Having decided his earlier dilemma, the sylveon sighed.

"Too bad this couldn't go on any longer..." he said rather sadly.

He lifted the zigzagoon off the ground and let gravity do the rest. The small pokemons eyes were bulging and full of tears and terror as the life seeped out of him. Trying brought the zigzagoon above him and let the pouring blood from the zigzagoon's wound fall onto him, loving the feeling of the warm liquid on his fur. The zigzagoon let out one more small gurgling sound, then fell silent. Tyrin brought the body down and smiled at it.

His ears perking higher as the heavy footsteps were coming closer, Tyrin quickly moved into the bush to Lonliness, still holding the body, "Come on, we need to move!"

This was entirely my fault, Lonliness realized as he listens on to Tyrin bringing nothing more than suffering. Like a beast to the slaughter. "I let this happen." Still killing himself for not having the bravery to stop his friend, the eevee was surprised when he sees Tyrin again, with the dead ziggy in hand. "Where are we going!?" he sobs loudly.

The sylveon shushed him, "There is another here, and we need to get out of here before it finds out what happened. Come!" He hurried Lonliness along and they ran out of the area. Tyrin had never felt so alive! Nothing had ever given him so much pleasure as ending the insignificant creatures' life slowly, though he wished he could have done it slower.

Tyrin made a mental note to take his next victim to a quieter place. Lonliness would make sure that he would never lure a Pokémon to Tyrin in his head. After about five minutes of running, they would come across a cave.

"Perfect!" Tyrin said, laying the deceased body down. Covered still in dried blood, panting, he turned to the eevee. "So what part do you want first? The leg was good, so I call that one. But good thing there is four, right?" The sylveon gave a rather toothy grin.

In the cave, Lonliness was noticeably depressed. He was not very proud of himself, and looked at the ground before up at the sylveon. "I lost my appetite, thanks," he was as respectful, yet honest as he could be in his depressive mood.

A frown started to come to the blue-furred face. Suddenly remembering the blood on his face, Tyrin made an effort to clean it with a paw. Then a horrifying image popped into his head. He remembered how the eevee looked when he first met him at the lake. How weak, emotional and fragile the eevee was. How thin the eevee was.

That poor, caved in stomach. The eevee was starving to death, he suddenly remembered.

"Lonliness," he began. "I know you don't eat when your depressed... speak your mind, kiddo." He pushed the body aside and sat down next to Lonliness, his eyes full of the loving compassion it once had.

The eevee took a deep breath before he looked into those crimson-tinted eyes. "I know how hard it is for you to understand, for the longest time I was the exact same way. I know you can't feel for others, I couldn't very well myself," he admitted. "But I want you to understand one thing, it's all I ask. The Tyrin that I met back at the pond told me that everybody has their own piece of the world and they should be loved. What you did just then..." he shivered a little in nauseate. "If we're going to continue like this, please promise me that you won't hurt them too badly..."

"Everyone deserves love..." the sylveon repeated his own words, and his confused mind started to panic. _Who did he love? Was he loved? I just killed an innocent..._

Before he could think too hard about it, Tyrin's indifference towards others came back. Suddenly, his mind switched to a different topic, back at Lonliness. "Let me ask you this Lonliness, did you ever want to stop? Did you ever look at what you did and not feel a certain amount of pleasure from it? It was hard for you to stop?"

His red eyes looked into the brown ones. "Something tells me there is still a little bit of it still in you... I want to be with you in the forest because I love who you are. All I'm asking is the same courtesy." Suddenly, compassion came creeping into his mind as he continued. "I can offer a little less pain, but I can't stop it all...now are you going to eat?" he offers.

Lonliness could tell by the sudden change in facial expressions that his words did get to the sylveon, glad that they were at least considered before Tyrin retained his apathetic and unfeeling demeanor once more. He looks into the others eyes as they stood intently into his own.

"I was too young to realize what I was doing at first. I didn't know what I did; I only knew that a small bit of me wanted me to do it at least a little more. I couldn't help it, not after my trainer left me years ago. I don't want our friendship to end; we are all we have for each other. I don't want to ever leave your side again, Tyrin." He looks down at the mangled carcass. "Thank you, I think I'll probably just have some berries or something for now."

"I will fetch them for you, I will be right back." He smiles as he slowly started to rise to his feet. "If you could, could you start a fire? The sun is starting to go down," he notes before stepping out of the cave.

With his friend gone, the eevee sluggishly rose on all fours. With a small stretch after lying around for so long, he started to walk towards the mutilated carcass of what used to be a small raccoon. He knew it was his fault. He knew that perhaps he had spoken, Tyrin would have listened to him. But he was such a coward, and this spinelessness had brought nothing but death, once again.

"I'm sorry;" he whispered the apology to the dead zigzagoon, before cowering back towards his earlier spot.

Outside, Tyrin was walking towards a bush as his mind was now completely off the zigzagoon, only viewing it as food now. For now, his attention was settled solely on what Lonliness wanted, to find some berries for the small Pokémon to help himself to.

"Rattata... young...tender..." He said so said out loud as his stomach growls demandingly. He began walking towards the scent but then stopped, Lonliness' words echoing in his head. He begrudgingly starting walking away, repeating in his head that he had food back at camp. Quickly, he stumbled upon a bush of oran berries and gathered them, every step away from the glorious scent causing him pain in his stomach, but he manages to hold true to his promise. He swiftly gave the berries to his friend once he arrived back soon after.

"Hope you enjoy!" he said as he soon started to work on his own feast.

Noticing how hasty he seemed, knowing that something was obviously unnerving him, Lonliness moved a tad closer to the fairy, although some distance was still being kept. The reeking iron odor in the enclosed air was a tad unnerving for him.

He looked towards the sylveon as he dines at times, watching the sylveon rip and tear through the meat with relative ease before looking away before he noticed. Somehow the eevee manages to stomach this sight, mildly disturbed but did not find himself even gagging, despite how much he wanted to. He was starting to at least accept his friend's new customs.

The eevee looked up as the remains, mostly just bone and small strips of flesh clinging to them were tossed with a sickening plop into the darkness and watches as Tyrin comes closer. "I'm fine," he assures him.

Seeing through his lie, which wasn't all that difficult anyway, Tyrin sighed. A ribbon comes around to rub along that brown, fluffy back. "Lonely, I don't want you to just tolerate the rest of your life... I want you to be happy, so if there is any way I can help you be more comfortable with my... actions, I will do it." He smiled down at the little guy.

Listening to his words, and leaning into the petting, Lonliness started to finally feel a lot more comfortable around the corrupted fairy again. Even after the torturing of another Pokémon, of his appearance. At the very least, he realized that he is far from the top of the food chain. The eevee looked up and smiled back. "Would you mind if we played together, maybe? Would you still enjoy that?" He asks, not sure.

Tyrin giggled for the first time in… months? "We can't play hide and seek! You would have too much of an advantage!" To set an example, the fairy pawed at a patch of grass. It died almost instantaneously at his touch. "See? But tag sounds like fun! Who do ya want to be it first?"

Lonliness watched the grass die with a rather casual and expected chuckle, shaking his head at his own mistake. "I forgot! I used to do something similar, except it would turn kind of red, black sometimes." The eevee recalled. He considers for a few seconds before walking towards the sylveon and placing a small paw on his nose. "You're it," he snickered before taking off. Letting out a small snort at the touch to his nose, the fairy gave a grin.

"Oh, it's on!" he retorted gleefully before starting to bolt towards the eevee, giving chase.

The small and simplest of games continued on for what seemed like hours passed. In times of crisis, the simplicity of tag entertained them as they enjoyed every second of it. It offered them freedom and joy. For that moment, Tyrin soon forgot all about his bloodlust, his rage and even his own curse that previous plagued him for a year after his best friend died before him. As if there wasn't a problem in the world. Tyrin was at peace and everything seemed like it was going to be okay, and the one thing that made Lonliness happier than ever was his realization of this. He was sure that there could be a way to bring Tyrin back to normal, perhaps. Although, he knew this wouldn't be an easy task, and Tyrin probably would not like this. But just maybe. It was worth a shot.

The dark sylveon lied on the grass next to the brown canine, panting after their little game. He pulled the child closer and felt the warmth of the fur on his own, sighing rather happily. Satisfied, Tyrin's eyes began to droop. "Good night, my little prince... I'll see you in the morning."

Likewise, the smaller Pokémon started to nuzzle into the larger one's fur. Whatever fear or worry that he had over his best friend's incarnation slipped his mind. "Good night, best friend." They slept there as the silent and beautiful night passed around them, with not a care to the world.

If the next few months were not hell, Tyrin considered it to be the next best thing.

The eevee had suggested that after the "disgusting" display with the zigzagoon, which the vee never fully blamed him for, the two of them should change their lifestyles a tad. It might lead into some undesirable consequences later down the road. Tyrin agreed, but was unaware of the grueling process that would come with it.

As expected, he was cut off from killing and maiming others. It was, after all, morally wrong outside of his psychopathic mindset. For the first few days, he was certain he could handle it. He started to feel withdrawal equal to a junkie deprived of their dose of opiates. He missed the blood, and the screaming that came with it. He began to feel weak, depression getting to him as his friend only cheered him on, almost teasingly. He felt himself breaking further, his mind corrupting.

During some nights, he had to exclude himself from the eevee's side, sometimes in the rain and cold. He would look down at his shaking paws, his former instruments of malice and torment now being reduced to kindness and sympathy. It was sick, his mind told him. The whole process was counterproductive.

Then he would think of something he would later regret and put himself down for.

_He was the one who did this to you,_ his mind reminded him.

Everyone is deserving of love, he mentally replied back.

_And where has that mentality brought you? You have ruined your own life in favor for a stranger who you felt pity for. Someone you know who has brought only misery onto others. Look at yourself, Tyrin. Open your eyes. For now he is happy, and you are better off dead. You never deserved any of this. You have done nothing wrong before this._

_It doesn't have to be torturous, _Tyrin began to shiver as the spell as well as his very own conscience prompted him, _and it could just be a quick snap at the base of his weak little neck. Just one crunch and he goes back to Hell where he belongs – and you are free of him and the hexes he brings forever. THIS is the true path towards living a normal life. Not HIM._

"He's just a child," Tyrin reminded himself. "He was misunderstood, that's all. Arceus loves every Pokémon."

_No Tyrin_, his mind snapped back before once again retreating. _You have blood on your hands now. You murdered somebody else in cold blood for your own primal urges. Arceus is no longer with you, and you best get used to it._

As opposed to other Pokémon, the fairy was put on a diet of fresh fruit and vegetables against his wishes. As well as fish. One would consider it to be a "vegan" diet. As expected, Tyrin seemed more interested in watching the marine animals suffer than to chew on them to death quickly, which in his case would be within seconds considering his impressive fangs like a shark. Watching their mouths gape open as their eyes glazed over was rather amusing to him, timing how long they would keep alive as his claws dug into the pathetic flesh and rip them apart from the inside out as they writhe in his clutches weakly. Sometimes, this internal and silent torture would last for a few full minutes, he had found with a sadist's satisfaction. But after a while, even this little game eventually came to a closing. He had almost stopped gutting the fish. Almost.

He was in the cave when Lonliness called him out to a wonderful and sunny day for an announcement. A rather big one at that, as explained. He walked up to him and smiled in high spirits, "What's up, little buddy?"

The eevee returned the smile, even noticing how less menacing and friendly smirk the sylveon had despite the teeth. "Do you think you're ready now? To be welcomed back into the forest? To live a normal life?" Lonliness moved closer to him.

The smile slowly fell into a worrying frown. "Am I ready?" he thought out loud, before keeping his mouth shut. ''I haven't seen anyone in so long... I don't know if I could stand to be so close to those... delicious... no, control yourself, Tyrin. No matter how delicious they might be, this is not about them. This was for Lonliness.''

As Tyrin thought, Lonliness was unable to read his face, although the frown scared him. The sylveon soon broke into a beam on his bothered face. "I... I think I can..." he replied, a small glimpse of confidence soon rising in his voice. "I... I can do it!"

The eevee soon felt convinced that this was going to turn out perfect himself at those words. "It'll be hard, I know," he reassured him as he reached out to grab one of the ribbons soothingly, "but maybe we could pull it off."

After watching the vee try to reach out for the ribbon, the sylveon smiled and moved it to reach the paw for him. "Lead the way," he proposed and soon he walked with his friend back into the forest, into society at last.

On the way there, he couldn't help himself but to think that he might finally get his chance to delight himself to some real food again.


End file.
